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Debates
Contributed by Sergio
Are debates useful for promoting veganism? Here is interesting e-mail by Steve Weigand:
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Logic doesn't win many people over. They first need to be "ready" to listen to logic, and that won't happen without something penetrating through to their minds. A positive image is very effective for doing just that, opening their minds to the idea of veganism.
For those that are ready to listen to logic, public debates can be very effective at winning people over. Those taking the anti-vegan side probably won't change their minds, but the silent people listening in to the debate might if they're ready to change.
I think factual information and reasoning are at least as important as image in this battle. Most people I run into have the following beliefs in common:
1) Veganism doesn't provide all of the nutrients needed to support life. You need at least some meat in order to stay well.
2) Children shouldn't be fed a vegan diet, especially not babies.
3) There's no overwhelming proof that a vegan diet is any healthier than a meat-based one. It's a fad diet unsupported by science.
4) Athletes, especially bodybuilders, can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet.
5) Vegans are sickly looking, thin, anemic, and pale skinned.
6) Food animals aren't being mistreated. Modern farming methods take better care of the animals than ever before.
7) Eating meat is no more wasteful than eating vegetables, since the earth is a closed eco-system.
8) Plants can feel pain, too. Vegans are hypocrites.
As a community, vegans need to get the facts out there so that people don't continue spreading this misinformation. Misinformation closes the doors that positive images open.
What I mean by that is this. Picture a 19 year old college student who sees that her favorite celebrity is vegan. She listens to the celebrity talk about the fact that it's the healthiest diet out there and that the animals in the meat industry are being treated with cruelty, and that's when she decides to try going vegan. So she tells her friends and family what she's planning on doing. And with that, she gets blasted by tons and tons of anti-vegan misinformation and decides to go back to eating meat. Her friends and family genuinely believe they're telling her the facts and that they're doing the right thing to help her. They don't know any better, because they don't really have the facts understood. And so that's why I say that image is nothing without the supporting facts and reasoning behind veganism.
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Please post your opinions on this topic.
Approved by Sergio on January 03,2002 | 20:49:39
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Re: Debates (Score: 1)
by dragonfly on January 04,2002 | 12:14:22http://www.dragonfly99.net | 1) Veganism doesn't provide all of the nutrients needed to support life. You need at least some meat in order to stay well.
When i started my veg*nism i knew better. i knew that one just needs an adequate amount of protein everyday, and i knew that i could get it from other sources besides meat. However i'd be willing to bet that this is a very common misconception.
3) There's no overwhelming proof that a vegan diet is any healthier than a meat-based one. It's a fad diet unsupported by science.
i suspected that it might at least be true. i was impressed by the "eating lower on the food chain" and "eat organic" type arguments.
4) Athletes, especially bodybuilders, can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet.
Feh. Madison Avenue politics entering the life-style arena. i feel sorry for anybody who cannot see through this all too typical mainstream American NIMBYist stereotype.
5) Vegans are sickly looking, thin, anemic, and pale skinned.
i wasn't sure about that one, as Paul and Linda McCartney were the only vegetarians that i was even remotely familiar with. And they were rock stars! i know now that this is completely false. i've heard this one from different sources for many years now, this also is a common, albeit incorrect stereotype.
6) Food animals aren't being mistreated. Modern farming methods take better care of the animals than ever before.
Even i fell for this one, before i became aware of the issues involved with AR and veg*nism. Of course i considered killing an animal for food extremely brutal, but i thought the miracles of the american free market place had cleaned up on at least the care of their animals. Boy was i wrong. i wasn't exposed to the horrors of factory farming until i started surfing the Internet and hit Peta and other AR sites a few times. In fact, that is what took me off of meat for good.
7) Eating meat is no more wasteful than eating
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Select replies (Score: 1)
by macsforever2001 on January 07,2002 | 09:45:11 | This probably won't help the cause, but here is what I think when I get asked these questions constantly.
1) Veganism doesn't provide all of the nutrients needed to support life. You need at least some meat in order to stay well.
I'm guess I'm a f***ing undead then.
2) Children shouldn't be fed a vegan diet, especially not babies.
Dude, you shouldn't even be allowed have children.
3) There's no overwhelming proof that a vegan diet is any healthier than a meat-based one. It's a fad diet unsupported by science.
Actually there have been studies for the past 50 years pointing this out exactly. Just because your "research" is CNN and McDonald's commercials does not mean it doesn't exist. Furthermore, there is overwhelming evidence that you are an idiot.
4) Athletes, especially bodybuilders, can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet.
A recent Olympic gold medal weightlifter was Vegan actually. Plenty of other athletes are Vegan including many best of sport ones. But you wouldn't know that since the only "sport" you watch is American football and you couldn't play that to save your life anyway.
5) Vegans are sickly looking, thin, anemic, and pale skinned.
Many gorgeous actresses who wouldn't give you the time of day are Vegan. Alicia Silverstone and Jennifer Love Hewitt for example.
6) Food animals aren't being mistreated. Modern farming methods take better care of the animals than ever before.
Then why don't you switch places with a factory farmed chicken for a day. I hope you can fit in a 1 foot square cage with no lights and birds on all sides of you. Enjoy!
7) Eating meat is no more wasteful than eating vegetables, since the earth is a closed eco-system.
The animals you eat have to eat something too. Cows, for example, eat far more than even you do on any given day (superbowl included). That means more land has to be farmed to feed the animals. That means less open land for you to golf on.
8) Plants can fee
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